1+3+9 round 2

Homestead was once a thriving industrial town, but when the steel industry left it took with it the population, creating a need for a revitalization strategy that addresses the history of the site in the context of the modern era.

The development of the Waterfront shopping center attempted to solve some of the economic problems of the area, but as a result ended up sucking much of the life and culture out of Homestead due to a break with tradition. The goal here is to emphasize the layering of the different systems of the site such as ecological, transportation, historical, and the building typologies in an attempt to study unique overlaps. These systems developed independently of each other, but also fed off the others to create a thriving steel economy so the issue remains how a town that once relied on steel continues to operate once the steel has left.

Due to the fact that people are already travelling to the Waterfront for commercial purposes, they can begin to appreciate the area for more than just big-box retailers and change their current patterns of movement through the area. Homestead was not only a town of steel workers and mills, but also small business owners and an area of many shops, restaurants, and ice cream parlors. The region developed from farmland to industry and most recently decline, but due to strong cultural influences, river accessibility and good housing stock, revitalization is possible. Ecology is the key factor to begin to reconnect Homestead with the city of Pittsburgh and make it a vital entity in the rich fabric of neighborhoods that exist in the city. The solid and void relationship that the river makes with the Waterfront can promote a spatial condition that emphasizes the views from the streets perpendicular to the river. There are inherent conditions that will present themselves with the process of layering, and the need will arise to play off the existing infrastructure to redirect people entering the area. The layering of the slope where the residential regions are located, with the flat main street that feeds down past a void to the river will produce a unique condition of interaction. Accessibility is a big issue, as many regions are not able to be accessed from the riverbank, so this idea of ecological conditions along the river can be carried back to the main streets of Homestead in an attempt to begin revitalization. Through learning from the past and looking at the affect of layering over time, the negative impacts that came from the development of the Waterfront can be reversed, and Homestead can once again become a thriving commercial center.